Zoo officials to regroup, reach out after levy loss

Over the next several months, officials with the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium will regroup and assess the lopsided loss of Issue 6, the 1.25-mill levy that was trounced at the polls May 6.

Phil Pikelny, chairman of the board, said it was a stinging rebuke by the public, which defeated the issue 92,218 votes (70.32 percent) to 38,914 votes (29.68 percent), according to final but unofficial results from the Franklin County Board of Elections.

"It just showed the growth plan we had was out of sync with voters. We heard loud and clear the folks weren't going to do the plan we had offered," said Pikelny, an executive at the Dispatch Printing Co., the parent company of ThisWeek Community Newspapers.

Franklin County voters have supported zoo levies since 1985.

But this time it was different: The proposed Downtown Adventure, a satellite zoo on the Scioto Peninsula, stole the lion's share of attention during the campaign. The 50,000-square-foot facility, estimated to cost between $50 million and $65 million, gave an opposition group plenty of rock-solid talking points about a "third zoo" and doubling of zoo property taxes.

"My suggestion to the board is we hold public meetings," Pikelny said. "I know individually I will reach out to some of the people who were opposed."